The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1887-06-05
ADMIRAL JOHN .WORDEi,
THE HERO OF THE MOSIfOB, In
ITS BATTLE
With the MerrImac... Tells the Story
Of an Encounter-The ReIe-
Iuti0njzed Naval Warfare.


and a manner which shows you that
his sixty years have been full Of
strange experiences, has taken great
interest in the nightly representation
of the battle between the Monitor
and Merrimac at the drill grounds.
He knows, better than anybody else,
perhaps, how far the play" has been
from absolute accuracy from q his
torical standpoint; Jet the mimic
battle has brought wildly to his
mind the detailed events here repre-
sented and in which he had a prom
inent part. His name is John l..
Worden-Admiral John l.. Worden
and he is the man that commanded
the Monitor in that trying hour Of
experiment-an hour of success
which probably saved the nation.
ut was an hour of great anxiety"
he said, in talking OF it, when we
made that experiment, just a quarter
OF century ago, for it was in March,
1862, you know. We had been under
a terrible strain of anxiety and work
coming down from New York TO
Hampton Roads, for there was moth
ing known of the capacity OF the YES
sci for enduring sea voyage, or what
she could do in q fight. The voyage
down was a very rough one, and
sometimes it seemed that we must go
to the bottom. The seas swept over
us, poured down the smeke holes and
put out our fires and suffocated the
men with gas from the furnaces so
that they fell as if dead. The result
was that our men were worn out with
work and lack OF sleep and proper
food when we reached Hampton
Roads"
did you have confidence in the
ability of the vessel to encounter the
Merrimac2"
II was confident that the Monitor
could do good service in quiet waters.
My chi fear was that the revolving
turret would get out Of order in the
fight and refuse to go round. The
opinion had been expressed by naval
officers that the first shot which
struck the turret would put it out of
'kilter' and that it would not revolve.
But when the FIRST shot struck her
and the others began to pour in and
she still worked like charm, l had
no more anxiety about the result.
When l saw the Merrimac making
for us | felt confident that we were a
match for her. | put bows.on and
fred straight upon the monster.
Shots were exchanged pretty fast.
Sometimes we were no further apart
than across the street. | remember
once tying to cut of her propeller
by running our vessel into it, but
missed it probably not over six
inches. Once she attempted to run
us down with her ram, but by a
quick turn we received the blow at
such an angle that it did US no dam
age"
Gould you see that your shots
were taking effect upon the Merri-
mac, whose slsping sides of railroad
iron had been apparently impervious
to the shots OF other vessels?"
Eyes: in my report made some
lished you will find the words
Every shot from our guns took eff.
feet upon the hugo sides of our ad-
versary, stripping off the iron
freely"
THE powder marks which you
carry across your forehead and eyes
are the result of this engagement
"Yes. In the last part of the fight
a shell from the enemy struck the
pilot house, just over the peep, hole
out of which | was looking. / was
Knocked down and completely blind
ed. The blow was right in my eyes
but from the food of light which fol
lowed, and Of which l was conscious
as one is conscious of light when hi
eyes are closed, | knew that the roo
had been torn off the pilot house
and did not know what other dam
age was done. So gave orders as
lay there to bear off.
"As soon rs Lieut.. Green could b,
brought from the turret placed hin
in command, aud was taken below
Within twenty minutes he had tn,
damages repaired, and turned bacl
to renew the fight with the Merri
mac, but before we could get at clos,
quarters she had retired in the di
reotion Of Norfolk" This memora
BILE battle between these then re
markable vessels, lasted nearly fou
hours. 1t began at 8 o'clock in tn
morning and continued with bu
about fifteen minutes interruption
while the Monitor was hoisting sho
to her tower) until near noon. Lieut.
Green, who was in command of tn,
guns in the turret during the fight
md who was placed in command o
the vessel when Capt. Worden wa
wounded, in a letter to his mothe
after the fight was over, after de
scribing the fight, which began a
about 8 o'clock in the morning, said
At 1l:30 O'Clock the captain sent 70
me. | went forward, and there h,
stood as noble man as ever liv,d
His face was perfectly blacl
with powder aud iron, an,
he was apparently blind. l aske,
him what was the matter, and h
said a shot had struck the pilo
house directly opposite his. eyes
binding them" Continuing tn
story Of the remaining portion Of tn
battle he says: When the fight wa
over and we were victorious my me
and myself we're perfectly black wit
smoke and powder. All my undo
clothes were perfectly black and m
person was in the same condition
When our noble captain (Wordeu
heard that the Merrimac had re
treated he said he was perfectly hap
py aud ready to die"
But he did not die, though he hs
never fully recovered his full health
for Admiral Wordeu is today, tweu
ty-6ve years later, still an honore
citizen Of Washington. g.